


Friends

by thesoundofnat



Category: Star Wars - All Media Types, Star Wars Sequel Trilogy
Genre: First Kiss, Friendship, Love Confessions, M/M, Minor Injuries, Minor Spoilers, Pre-Slash, about a certain character's existence but tbh their name is in the character tag thingy so
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-12-28
Updated: 2019-12-28
Packaged: 2021-02-19 07:49:54
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,449
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/22007605
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/thesoundofnat/pseuds/thesoundofnat
Summary: “When Leia Organa tells you something, you listen.” He leaned closer. “Everyone’s been helping me recently. Taking care of me. I figured it was time for me to try to help myself.”“How will you do that?”“Being honest’s probably a good start.”(Or, Poe’s friends help him in various ways.)
Relationships: Poe Dameron & Jessika Pava, Poe Dameron & Leia Organa, Poe Dameron & Rey, Poe Dameron & Temmin "Snap" Wexley, Poe Dameron/Finn, Zorii Bliss & Poe Dameron
Comments: 8
Kudos: 244





	Friends

**Author's Note:**

> I just wanna write about Poe and his friends okay.
> 
> Warnings: Minor spoilers for The Rise of Skywalker, mostly I just write about one character that’s in it, but I make my own conclussions about their relationship to Poe, so the character’s mere existence is the spoiler tbh.

Poe hadn’t changed in the slightest during the years they’d been apart. Zorii had to roll her eyes, in that fond way she saved for him even though he could exasperate her to no end.

“Are you done?” she asked when his grumbling had died down.

He sighed, deflating. “Yes. For now.”

“Good. Now. You want to talk about why you’re acting like a child?”

“I’m just tired.”

“We all are. You used to be able to hide your emotions better, at least.”

“Never around you.”

“But it’s not just around me, is it?” She felt her face soften. Couldn’t help it. “I get being frustrated. Truly, I do. But Poe. You need to rein it in in front of the others.”

“They’re as frustrated as I am.”

“And that’s why you need to put on a brave face and give them hope. You’re their leader, aren’t you?”

He shrugged, neither confirming nor denying.

“I think there’s something else bothering you.”

“Like what?”

She tilted her head at him. “I haven’t figured that part out yet.”

He’d seen her friend, her companion, co worker, beard, wear too many expressions to count, and she’d once been able to identify each and every one of them. But this one was different. This one was layered. A vulnerability, shielded behind something like pain, which in turn was being shielded by a stoicness. And in front of them all was vulnerability, again, because he was allowing Zorii to see all this. And then, front and center, a desperation, which was disguised as grumpiness around others. She couldn’t interpret what all this mean when they mixed together. She couldn’t read him as a whole.

“What’s wrong, Poe?”

He hid his face in his hands. “I don’t know what I’m doing. I don’t know what I’m _doing_.”

This was bad. This was hopelessness.

“You-” she started, taking a step closer and reaching for his hand before changing her mind. She slapped his back. He needed tough love. He needed the familiarity. “You need to have a good cry, some food and some sleep, okay?”

He peeked out at her, eyes dry, but barely. “You think that will help?”

“It always helps.” She ruffled his curls, grinning at his indignant whine. “You can cry on my shoulder if you want.”

He let out a laugh. “I’m good. You’d never let me live that down.”

“You bet your ass I wouldn’t.”

Poe crossed his arms, his smile melting off his face as quickly as it had arrived. “I just… I can’t help them all. I can’t _lead_ them all.”

Zorii bumped into him. “You’re not alone.”

“People keep saying that, but I’ve never felt that less in my life.”

“Remember what I told you?”

He sighed, shoulders slumping. “That they make us think we’re alone to make us lose hope.”

“Don’t lose hope, Poe Dameron.”

His exhale was almost a laugh. “I’ll try.”

“Come on.” She pulled at his wrist, in the way that always made him grin back in the days because he found the action so childlike. “Let’s start with some food, okay?”

He was nodding. “Okay.” A beat and, “Thank you.”

“Don’t mention it.”

* * *

Snap was watching Poe. He wasn’t sure why. Something about his face, the way he held himself, had caught Snap by the throat and he couldn’t look away even if he wanted to. He looked exhausted, but not from a lack of sleep. More from a perpetually interrupted peace of mind. A restlessness about him.

Or something. Snap couldn’t say he was an expert on all things Poe Dameron.

“Hey, Poe,” he found himself saying, catching Poe’s attention before he could curse himself. What was he even gonna say? “Come here a sec.”

Poe did, a mild curiosity to his face. “What’s up?”

“I need your help.”

“With?”

With indeed. “I need someone to meditate with me.” What the fuck.

Poe raised an eyebrow. “You meditate?”

“No. But I wanna start, but I need a buddy or else I won’t do it.”

Poe looked around them. “Can’t you ask someone else?”

“I feel like you’ll need it the most, pal.”

“What’s that supposed to mean?”

“It means we need some stress relief, Dameron.”

Poe started laughing, the sound unfamiliar to Snap, but oh so welcome. “You’re so full of shit,” he said, and Snap was laughing too.

“Got you to smile though, didn’t it?” he replied, realizing, belatedly, that this was all he needed to do. Tell a joke, be a little bizarre, and Poe was distracted. That was all Snap could do for him, but it seemed to be enough.

Poe rubbed at his neck, sheepish at being caught, but not denying his struggles. Not sharing, but also not pretending something wasn’t weighing him down. “It did. Thank you.”

Snap waved a hand at him. “Oh, stop. We’ll try yoga afterward to make us more flexible.”

* * *

Jessika nearly crashed into a building in her haste to fly the hell out of there, but Poe, that stupid brave bastard, stayed behind, his blaster going off in all directions in order to stall the Stormtroopers enough for his crew to flee. Practically leaving him behind.

She cursed. “Poe, come _on_.”

“Get out of here,” he called back into the comm, and she cursed again. “Jess, go!”

She did the opposite of that and turned her X-Wing back around, aiming straight at a group of Stormtroopers who were shooting in Poe’s direction. “Take this!” she cried, shooting them back and hitting one, two, injuring one, and making the rest turn to aim at her only for Poe to finish them off.

“That’s more like it!” she said. “Now come _on_.”

Poe jumped into his own X-Wing, thanking her over the noise of more Stormtroopers arriving. Not a match for them now though, and they fled, higher and quicker, and Jess was still cursing out of the need for relief.

“You’re an idiot,” she said later, much later, when they were fed and patched up and alive, alive, alive. “Next time, call for backup instead of thinking you can handle them all yourself.”

“Follow my orders next time, Pava.” But he didn’t sound angry. Just tired. “But thank you.”

She snorted, punching his arm. “For saving your ass? You’re welcome.”

He laughed and Jess finally felt herself relax.

* * *

Leia had an inkling she knew why Poe was sulking, but she sat down beside him anyway, feeling she could at least ask. Maybe he’d want to talk, even though that was highly unlikely. “How are you?”

He glanced at her, back straightening when their eyes met. “I’m well, General.”

“Poe, I’m asking as a friend.”

“Oh.” He slumped, if only a little. “I’m still well.”

“Something’s on your mind.”

“People keep saying that.”

“Well, I don’t know what they’re saying, but-” How to approach this? “I might be able to give more… experienced advice.”

“About leading? Oh, absolutely.”

Huh. More than one thing on his mind then.

“And other things,” she said, not prying, but opening the topic in case he wanted to share.

But she knew Poe. Poe was stubborn, shy about his emotions, nearly ashamed, and if she didn’t gently let him know she knew, he would never tell.

“Such as relationship advice. I did date Han Solo for years, you know.” A joke, but Poe flushed anyway.

“Right,” he said, eyes not on Leia anymore. “Well. I’ll let you know if I need some.”

“Poe.”

He licked his lips, the ghost of a laugh escaping. “I’m not good at this.”

“I know. It’s okay.”

“Is it?”

“It’s hard balancing these things in the middle of a war, let alone in the middle of a crowded military-esque base.”

“I bet.”

“But it’s possible. Maybe even more crucial because of it.”

“How did you know?”

“About Finn?”

He shrugged. “About Finn.”

“You’re being quite obvious in the way you look at him. But don’t worry, people would have to observe you in order to properly tell.”

“You observe me?”

“I observe everything.”

“How did you and Han- I mean-”

“Make it work? We needed to, or we could risk dying without having ever even tried.”

Poe nodded. “That makes sense.”

“It’s stressful dealing with feelings during times like these,” she continued, giving Poe’s arm a squeeze. “But worth it. And needed.”

Poe huffed out a laugh. “I guess. I just… what if he-”

“Doesn’t feel the same?”

“Yeah.”

“Then you’ll have to settle on friendship, which isn’t settling at all.”

“What if I lose him?”

“You won’t, Poe. I promise.”

Leia could tell him about how she’d observed Finn too and seen a love for Poe that Poe hadn’t noticed yet, but she figured it wasn’t hers to tell. He’d figure it out, once he stopped being so terrified. She was sure of it.

* * *

Rey found the hallways both creepy and soothing during nighttime. Empty, echoey, perfectly dimmed in case she wanted to see a shadow and mistake it for a person. But when she saw Poe sitting by himself one night she wasn’t startled. It was almost as if she’d sensed him. Sensed an unrest outside of her own.

“Poe?”

He looked up, eyes wide and bloodshot. Exhaustion rolling off of him even from afar. “Rey. Hi.”

“Hey.” She hovered before him. “May I join you?”

He gestured to the floor. “Be my guest. Please.”

She sat, their backs against the wall. Their base temporary, but the most comfortable one they’d had in a while. A planet they would have to leave, eventually. “Why are you up?”

“I could ask you the same thing.” Not a challenge. Just an observation.

She felt herself smile. “Couldn’t sleep.”

“Same here.”

“Nightmares?”

“No. Just-” He paused, humming. “Can’t settled down enough. Too much on my mind.”

“I see.”

“You?”

“Too restless to even try.”

He breathed out a laugh, the emptiness of the hallway amplifying it. “I can respect that.”

Rey turned to face him. “How long has this been going on for you?”

“Oh. Uh.” He shook his head, his smile small. Sad. “Too long probably.”

“Can I help you?”

“How would you help?”

“I can… I think the force might-” She shook her head. “I won’t mess with your head or anything, but… I think I can help you relax.”

“Really?”

“It won’t hurt to try. We need you to be alert, after all.”

He ran a hand through his hair. “I guess. I mean, sure, why not? I’d owe you my life if you fixed it.”

She heaved herself to her feet and held out a hand to help him. “Come on. Better do this around a bed.”

He accepted her hand, hope in his eyes. Hope she hoped she wouldn’t crush.

* * *

Finn wasn’t sure whether he should laugh or cry when Poe approached him and said he’d been hurt during their latest mission and not told anyone until now.

“You stubborn bastard,” he growled and Poe was laughing, that sweet sweet laughter enough to get Finn to smile despite himself. “Is it bad?”

“No, but- well, I think it might be infected?”

“ _Poe_.”

“And I’m sure if I told anyone else they would scold me all the way to Jakku.”

Finn rolled his eyes. “Want me to clean it?”

“Yes, please.”

So there they were, in Finn’s room, door shut, with Poe’s shirt pulled up because the wound was on his side. Finn couldn’t say he didn’t want to push the shirt up even more, maybe pull it off entirely, make sure the rest of Poe’s torso was okay because that man had no self preservation. But he was tasked with sorting out the current predicament, and that was enough for now.

“Lean back,” he said, because Poe was slumping a bit and it was hard to see the proper damage.

“I tried to clean it myself, but…” he trailed off, sitting back against the wall as Finn looked at the wound.

“How did you even get this?” he asked, fingertips hovering over the infected skin. “This doesn’t look like a blaster wound, thank the stars.”

“I honestly think I bumped into something and didn’t even realize I was bleeding until much later.”

“Can’t take you anywhere.”

Poe’s laugh was cut off by him inhaling through gritted teeth when Finn started dabbing at the cut. “Shit.”

“Sorry. I should’ve warned you.”

“S’okay. Keep going.”

Finn cleaned the wound mostly in silence, apart from Poe’s occasional yelps or curses. Finn had his other hand on Poe’s abdomed, pulling the skin ever so slightly, head bowed low in order to see better. Ignoring that he was touching Poe. Entirely ignoring as he moved his hand over Poe’s lower belly.

He suddenly cried out, but there was a laugh in there that made Finn look up. “Poe?”

He looked sheepish, with his head tilted to the side and a smile still lingering on his lips. “Sorry. You just- you tickled me.”

Finn looked at his hand, and then back up at Poe. He couldn’t help his grin. “Huh. I’ll have to remember that.”

Poe laughed again, all timid and nervous. “Please don’t.”

Finn kept cleaning his wound. “Nope. Can’t hear you. Too overcome by the thought of a hysterically laughing Poe Dameron.”

“Oh, come on.” Poe used one hand to shove at him, and Finn, suddenly playful, shoved him back. “Hey! I’m a wounded man and this is how you treat me?”

“Serves you right. Now be still.”

Poe was grinning now as Finn kept patching him up, so much less tense, and Finn found the beauty of him unfair. Unfair to Finn, who had zero self control as it was. Could be as reckless as Poe and his stupid need to not seem weak.

But this he couldn’t do. Not without acknowledging it. Reckless and stupid and way overdue.

“All done,” he said, leaning back, but Poe didn’t pull down his shirt and Finn didn’t move away.

“Leia told me something the other day,” Poe said when neither of them spoke. “About needing to take a risk if you ever want to get the desired outcome. That you can’t just wait around and hope.”

“Leia is smart.”

“It was love advice, believe it or not.”

“Oh.” Finn’s heart was suddenly rioting. “Are you gonna listen to her?”

“When Leia Organa tells you something, you listen.” He leaned closer. “Everyone’s been helping me recently. Taking care of me. I figured it was time for me to try to help myself.”

“How will you do that?”

“Being honest’s probably a good start.”

“I see.”

“Finn.”

Finn couldn’t breathe.

“Can I kiss you?”

“Yes.” The word a whisper, Finn’s heart a scream. “Please do.”

Poe did.

**Author's Note:**

> Find me on [tumblr](http://thesoundofnat.tumblr.com/)!


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